What happens
Charles Snell, a broke poet, hides in the rug department of Bracy's department store, having decided to escape the world for good. Living in secret among the store's night dwellers, a pale, elderly community led by the grand old Mrs. Vanderpant, he finds himself drawn to Ella, Mrs. Vanderpant's young maid. Escape is the series name; this episode was broadcast on November 5, 1947, and the cast is Elliott Lewis as Charles Snell, Paul Frees as Roscoe, and Pat Lowery as Ella. The story is adapted from John Collier's story Evening Primrose, and the narration builds through Snell's journal entries and the night dwellers' strange rules.
A large department store at night, with a hidden community of night dwellers living in its departments.
Characters: Charles Snell, Ella, Mrs. Vanderpant, Roscoe, Mrs. Bilby, Sam, Mrs. Vanderpant's maid
Listen for: Snell's journal entries describing the night dwellers, and the mounting tension around Ella.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.